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Don Davis

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Don Davis has been the Forum Communications Minnesota Capitol Bureau chief since 2001, covering state government and politics for two dozen newspapers in the state. Don also blogs at Capital Chatter on Areavoices.

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ST. PAUL—Major Minnesota governor candidates agree they would handle making regulations different than Gov. Mark Dayton. Mainly, they say, they would talk to those affected early in the process. Dayton has got into hot water, especially with farmers, by making proposals before vetting them with those affected. Rural Republicans in the past couple of years often accused Dayton of waging a "war on agriculture."

ST. PAUL—Minnesota's three major Democratic governor candidates give voters a choice in the Aug.14 primary election: • U.S. Rep. Tim Walz has by far the biggest war chest among Democrats, raising $1.3 million this year, and says his time in Congress helped him become a leader in agriculture and veterans' issues. He has good name recognition in his southern Minnesota district, and he says he is the best choice for greater Minnesota because he lives there.

ST. PAUL—Minnesota Republicans should know something about their two major governor candidates in the Aug. 14 primary election. Jeff Johnson and Tim Pawlenty each has been on the statewide ballot twice. Both say they are conservatives and agree on several issues, such as tamping down the budget and changing taxes.

ST. PAUL—Minnesotans operating recreational vehicles such as boats, all-terrain vehicles, jet skis, snowmobiles and other powered vehicles while drinking now are being treated the same as people who drink and drive cars or trucks. That is good news to Marybeth Lonnee, grandmother of an 8-year-old boy who died in January after being struck by a snowmobile operated by a man whose driver's license was revoked after being convicted of drunken driving multiple times.

MANKATO, Minn.—Greater Minnesota leaders left a governor candidate forum not surprised that they saw big differences in how the two parties would deal with their issues. Two Democrats talked about adding money to state programs for cities in the Thursday night, July 26, Mankato forum. The lone Republican said he will not promise to spend more on any state program.

MANKATO, Minn. — Attorney General Lori Swanson has dropped out of a Minnesota governor candidate forum planned for Thursday night, Aug. 26. Swanson's office told Forum News Service that she needs to be in Milwaukee Friday morning with meet with a surgeon after one of her 87-year-old mother's lung collapsed.

ST. PAUL—Elected officials seeking re-election, or hoping to win another office, often make announcements that make it unclear if they are handing out official information or campaigning. The line is blurry. Take, for instance, U.S. Rep. Tim Walz's Wednesday, July 18, news conference. He usually holds news conferences in his southern Minnesota U.S. House district. But his recent one came in the Capitol complex in St. Paul, which is more likely to attract statewide attention (but just three reporters showed up).

ST. PAUL—Minnesota's election chief says President Donald Trump made United States elections less secure with his comments doubting Russian interference in the 2016 campaign. "We know that Russia attempted to attack our election system across the United States in 2016, including unsuccessfully here in Minnesota," Secretary of State Steve Simon said Monday, July 16, hours after Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin stood side by side telling reporters what just happened in their meeting behind closed doors.

ST. PAUL—New Minnesota driver's licenses will be more difficult to forge, be easier for law enforcement officers to read and contain more information. Some of the new licenses, and identification cards, will be available starting Aug. 6, but "people don't need to rush in and apply for a new card," Dawn Olson said on Monday, July 16. Olson, the state Department of Public Safety Driver and Vehicle Services director, said Minnesotans with a current valid licenses or IDs can continue using them.